I just want to post to remind you guys that social proofing is a damn good way of ensuring that 50% of the battle is won. If there is one thing that has been true for me lately in terms of getting positive results, it's social proofing!

I won't go into too much detail, but I recently turned a one-sided, dull conversation with a girl that was in a hurry to leave (she had to finish a midterm due in a couple of hours) into an interactive and enthusiastic conversation that resulted in a number.

I'll keep this as short as possible:

I approached a girl I found attractive at the convenient store on campus. She effectively blew me off, saying she's in a rush, grabbed a pop-tart and went straight for the line. I followed her, kind of worried that she would interpret my behavior as needy. I talked to her in line, but she paid little attention and never made eye contact with me. I brought up the fact that the line was moving slow and that I had an idea on how to make it go faster. I said, "I have an idea. I need you to shout 'I have a gun'. That'll disperse the line."

She gave me a courtesy smile. Girl in front of us turned around a little bit. I saw her smile. I roped her into the conversation. She had a tat of a knife on her calf. I pointed it out and said that she probably likes my idea because she's prone to violence, pointing to her tat as evidence.

The guy behind us jumps in.

At this point, I'm at the center of an absurd discussion about cannibalism and violence while we're waiting in line. At the point where the conversation goes silent, the girl I was interested in picks up the conversation, is making eye contact with me, and has her body angled toward me. She's now engaged.

After she buys her snack, I acknowledge that she's in a hurry but I want her to meet my friends first, some of which are sitting right outside the store. I then pull into my friends group and then begin to dominate that discussion by setting the topic and moving it forward with relevant questions for the group.

This uninterested girl that was previously in a hurry sticks around for about 40 minutes and starts giving me massive signals. I ultimately get her number.

A number I got the previous week was actually because a girl gave it to me without me needing to ask because I was able to control the flow of a group. The girl later asked if she could kiss me.

I'm not a social butterfly, mind you. I have one close friend and a massive network of acquaintances. I often run into my acquaintances on campus and I am able to use this to my advantage. Because I am the one that the group really knows, I am able to establish myself as the dominant one because I am the one that introduces everyone to everyone else and because I am the only they are familiar with.

I've actually had been told by some acquaintances that I must be popular or a really cool guy because I know everybody. Those things are far from the truth, as I am a dorky introvert, but because I'm the one introducing people, I am the only constant variable in all those situations. I've actually derived confidence from this and have become a little more extroverted in the process.

Just an observation.